NEWTON, Iowa — Minnesota has been tabbed the team to beat next March’s NCAA Division I national tournament, according to WIN’s 2013-14 Preseason Division I Tournament Power Index that was released to with the weight-by-weight individual rankings. With eight predicted All-Americans, the Gophers are predicted to unseat defending champion Penn State, while Iowa and Oklahoma State are also expected to finish among the top four schools.

The TPI is compiled by awarding points to each team with ranked wrestlers by WIN. Teams are awarded points based on how many potential NCAA All-Americans they could have next March and get advancement points for wrestlers ranked No. 9-20. The order of teams in the TPI vary greatly from our dual-meet rankings — which will come out in December — as some teams have a number of highly-ranked individuals but may have holes in their dual meet line-up.

TPI points will not match the final NCAA tournament points because it does not include bonus points for pins, technical falls, major decisions and forfeits/defaults.

WIN’s individual rankings are subject to change once teams determine where guys are going to be as the 2013-14 season approaches. These rankings do not include freshmen. The source of individual records from 2012-13 is from the NCWA Scorebook (NWCAonline.com).

WIN seeks to subjectively combine both current results with past performance and proven records of consistency to predict those who will most likely place high or win the national tournament. (Released Sept. 27)

I agree with Peter. I saw Myers wrestlle at the Terrapin Wrestling Club this past summer. He’s healthy and ready to go. My guess is that soon after the season starts he’ll climb to the top 10 and be in the top 5 by the end.